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Pete Alonso of the Mets and Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Friday’s two League Championship Series games.
In the National League, the New York Mets extend their best-of-seven-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, now trailing 3-2. In the American League, the New York Yankees take a 3-1 lead in their best-of—seven game series against the Cleveland Guardians.
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Source: MLB.com
Both National League Division Series begin Saturday.
The San Diego Padres face the Los Angeles Dodgers in one best-of-five game series and the New York Mets face the Philadelphia Phillies in the other. The top two NL seeds, the Dodgers (first) and the Phillies (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Tanner Bibee is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to sixth place in season player rankings.
Also Friday, Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to first place among American League batters in Box-Toppers rankings and Starling Marte of the Mets earns Box-Toppers points in his 13th consecutive season.
Read MorePadres pitcher Joe Musgrove is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals were voted 2022 Most Valuable Player award winners over Box-Toppers’ choices for the awards, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Pete Alonso of the Mets.
Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals were voted 2022 Most Valuable Players Thursday, over Box-Toppers’ choices for the awards—Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Pete Alonso of the Mets.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher Ross Stripling is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Stripling struck out seven over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Orioles. Stripling did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Dylan Cease is the most deserving player not selected to the 2022 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.
A Box-Toppers look at All-Star starters, reserves and snubs.
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Box-Toppers picks the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2022 World Series, beating the predicted American League champion Chicago White Sox.
Box-Toppers projects the Dodgers will have the most wins among all teams—111—and will be the only team with more than 100 wins this season.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2022 preseason rankings. They also ended 2021 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Oakland Athletics saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreTwins pitcher Jose Berrios is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Berrios struck out 12 over six hitless and scoreless innings, allowing no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Brewers. Berrios exited after 84 pitches with a no-hitter that was broken up with a single hit in the eighth inning.
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Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw rises to lead Box-Toppers weekly player rankings. Royals' Jason Vargas continues to lead American League players.
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Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.
Scherzer struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hit and three walks, in the 3-1 win over the Braves.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 3 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 4 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 7 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 3.0 |
| 8 | Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr cp | hou al | 3.0 |
| 9 | Bedrosian, Cam 3694 | pi cp | ana al | 3.0 |
| 10 | Marte, Starling 3122 | lf cf | pit nl | 3.0 |
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season. He also now has 134.7 career points and rises to 30th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Jason Giambi (133.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 29th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs struck out five over six innings, allowing two runs (none earned) and three hits, in the 4-2 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies homered twice and doubled, going 3-for-4 and driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers.
American League Batter of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-7 win over the Blue Jays.
Streak—Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 consecutive seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Encarnacion (HR 1-3 2R 3BI in the 11-4 win over the Twins) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Reds and has 68.1 career points, ninth among active AL batters. His best season was 2015 with the Blue Jays, when he had 10.4 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL batters.
Rankings—Angels closing pitcher Cam Bedrosian rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Bedrosian (2IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K Sv in the 5-2 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 3.0 for the season.
Notable—Starling Marte of the Pirates was suspended Tuesday for 80 games for violating baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy. Marte currently ranks 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 3.0 Box-Toppers points. He was NL Batter of the Day on April 9 and April 15.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Triggs earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado and Betts each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
| 4/18 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | WSH 3, ATL 1 | Max Scherzer (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| 7.0 | MIA 5, SEA 0 | Wei-Yin Chen (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | OAK 4, TEX 2 | Andrew Triggs (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 5.1 | CHW 4, NYY 1 | Miguel Gonzalez (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | ARI 11, SD 2 | Shelby Miller (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | COL 4, LAD 3 | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CIN 9, BAL 3 | Adam Duvall, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | TB 5, DET 1 | Matt Andriese (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | BOS 8, TOR 7 | Mookie Betts, RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | CHC 9, MIL 7 | Miguel Montero, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 11, MIN 4 | Edwin Encarnacion, DH | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 5, HOU 2 | Cam Bedrosian (S,3) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | PHI 6, NYM 2 (F/10) | Aaron Altherr, PH-LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SF 2, KC 1 (F/11) | Mark Melancon (S,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1.0 | `STL 2, PIT 1 | Matt Bowman (H,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 | 28.7 | 106.9 | 134.7 | -22.7 |
| Bedrosian, Cam 3694 | pi cp | ana al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 1.7 |
| Duvall, Adam 3573 | lf | cin nl | 2.0 | 8.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -4.5 |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 1.5 | 12.2 | 22.2 | 22.2 | -9.2 |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | bos al | 1.5 | 7.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | -4.7 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 1.0 | 10.1 | 38.9 | 38.9 | -8.1 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | cle al | 1.0 | 9.0 | 44.1 | 68.1 | -7.0 |
| Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | sf nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 20.0 | 25.0 | -2.0 |
| Altherr, Aaron 3563 | lf ph | phi nl | 1.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -1.5 |
| Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 39.1 | 39.1 | -1.0 |
| Chen, Wei-Yin 3026 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 28.1 | 28.1 | -1.0 |
| Montero, Miguel 2304 | ca | chi nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 16.7 | 32.9 | -1.0 |
| Andriese, Matt 3505 | pi sp mr | tb al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -1.0 |
| Bowman, Matt 3699 | pi mr | stl nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
Twins pitcher Ervin Santana is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to take the lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 3 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 4 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 5 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Marte, Starling 3122 | lf cf | pit nl | 3.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 |
| 8 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 2.7 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 |
| 10 | Garcia, Avisail 3256 | rf | chi al | 2.5 |
Also Saturday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia rises to fifth place on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list (since record keeping began in 1995), moving ahead of Alex Rodriguez.
Player of the Day—Santana pitched a one-hit shutout, striking out eight and walking one, in the 6-0 win over the White Sox.
Santana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season and rising to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He passes previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (4.0).
Santana also now has 102.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 69th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes six players on the “all-time” list: Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7), Jason Schmidt (101.2), Mark Teixiera (101.3) and Tim Wakefield (101.4). Santana now trails 68th-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood pitched a two-hit shutout, striking out four and walking one, in the 5-0 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians hit a pair of three-run homers and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in six, in the 13-6 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Starling Marte of the Pirates homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-7 win over the Cubs.
Marte earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season and rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among NL batters.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 187.7 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 187.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 169.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 157.1 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | atl nl | 149.5 |
| 20 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Santana (7.1IP 3H R BB 6K W in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 187.0 for his career. With the point, he passes former teammate Alex Rodriguez, who also has 187.0 career points, but Sabathia ranks ahead because he has more 2017 points—2.0 vs. 0.0.
Sabathia now trails fourth-ranked player on the “all-time” list, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (187.7), who only passed Sabathia on Friday. Sabathia had briefly been the highest-ranked active player in career Box-Toppers points until being passed by Kershaw Friday. He now only trails Kershaw by 0.7 points.
In two days, Rodriguez has moved from fourth place to sixth place on the “all-time” list after being passed by Kershaw on Friday and Sabathia on Saturday. He had been in fourth place since April 2, 2011.
Rankings—Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Sale (7IP 3H R 3BB 12K W in the 2-1 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.7 for the season.
For the first time this season, all players in the season top 10 list have earned Player of the Game honors more than once in 2017.
Debut—Cesar Hernandez of the Phillies made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hernandez (HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 4-2 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut May 29, 2013, and was playing in his 393rd career game. He is the 3,770th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Hernandez and Marte both had Box-Toppers game scores Saturday of +2.0, but Marte won NL Batter of the Day honors over Hernandez on a tiebreaker—he had one stolen base in his game and Hernandez had none.
Scoring—Santana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chatwood earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Marte each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
| 4/15 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | MIN 6, CHW 0 | Ervin Santana (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 14.0 | SEA 5, TEX 0 | James Paxton (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 11.0 | BOS 2, TB 1 | Chris Sale (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | COL 5, SF 0 | Tyler Chatwood (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| BAT | 9.0 | CLE 13, DET 6 | Jose Ramirez, 2B | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | `TOR 2, BAL 1 | Marco Estrada | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 7.1 | NYY 3, STL 2 | CC Sabathia (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.1 | LAD 8, ARI 4 | Alex Wood (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 10, OAK 6 | Will Harris (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 4, SD 2 | Jim Johnson (S,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 5, NYM 4 | AJ Ramos (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | KC 3, LAA 2 | Joakim Soria (W,1-0; BS,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | PIT 8, CHC 7 | Starling Marte, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | PHI 4, WSH 2 | Cesar Hernandez, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 7, MIL 5 | Zack Cozart, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 | 8.7 | 41.5 | 102.0 | 0.7 |
| Marte, Starling 3122 | lf cf | pit nl | 3.0 | 5.5 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 0.5 |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 | 16.1 | 84.1 | 89.1 | -10.7 |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 34.5 | 187.0 | -4.0 |
| Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 6.4 | 13.1 | 13.1 | -2.4 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | col nl | 1.7 | 8.7 | 15.4 | 18.4 | -5.3 |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 1.5 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 12.0 | 41.1 | 44.1 | -10.0 |
| Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi cp | atl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 16.0 | 22.7 | -3.0 |
| Ramos, A.J. 3210 | pi cp | fla nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -1.0 |
| Cozart, Zack 3012 | ss | cin nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -1.0 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi mr sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 20.4 | 20.4 | 0.0 |
| Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi mr cp | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.7 | 46.7 | 0.0 |
| Harris, Will 3093 | pi mr cp | hou al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 0.0 |
| Hernandez, Cesar 3770 | 2b | phi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead all players in season Box-Toppers points.
Syndergaard struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 5-2 win over the Marlins.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 2.7 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 4 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 |
| 5 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 6 | Finnegan, Brandon 3535 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.0 |
| 7 | Mazara, Nomar 3614 | rf | tex al | 2.0 |
| 8 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 2.0 |
| 9 | Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr cp | hou al | 2.0 |
| 10 | Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | lad nl | 2.0 |
Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, passing previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (2.0).
American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.
Santana earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season and rising to second place in season Box-Toppers rankings.
Santana also becomes the 75th player since Box-Toppers inception in 1995 to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points. With his points Sunday, he has exactly 100.0 and ranks 75th among all players since 1995. He passes five players on the “all-time” list—Ryan Howard of the Braves (98.7), Jim Edmonds (98.8), White Sox pitcher James Shields (99.4), Giants pitcher Matt Cain (99.7) and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (99.8). Santana now trails 74th-ranked player Larry Walker (100.1).
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Rangers homered and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-1 win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Starling Marte of the Pirates hit a walk-off 10th-inning home run in the 6-5 win over the Braves. Marte also went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs.
Notable—Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday are among the top 10 players in season Box-Toppers rankings:
Currently, 12 players have 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. Ties are broken among those players based on how many Box-Toppers points the players had in 2016. For example, Kershaw ranks highest among those 13 players because he had 24.4 Box-Toppers points in 2016, while Arrieta, who ranks third, had 15.7.
Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Santana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Gallo and Marte each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
| 4/9 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | NYM 5, MIA 2 | Noah Syndergaard (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| 7.0 | CIN 8, STL 0 | Scott Feldman (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | CHC 7, MIL 4 | Jake Arrieta (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | MIN 4, CHW 1 | Ervin Santana (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| 6.0 | HOU 5, KC 4 (F/12) | Chris Devenski (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | `PHI 4, WSH 3 | Jeremy Hellickson | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | TEX 8, OAK 1 | Joey Gallo, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | TB 7, TOR 2 | Steven Souza, RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | BOS 7, DET 5 | Matt Barnes (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | PIT 6, ATL 5 (F/10) | Starling Marte, CF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | ARI 3, CLE 2 | Patrick Corbin (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | NYY 7, BAL 3 | Dellin Betances (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 10, COL 6 | Corey Seager, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SF 5, SD 3 | Buster Posey, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 10, SEA 9 | Jefry Marte, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 | 19.7 | 30.1 | 30.1 | -13.7 |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 2.7 | 6.7 | 39.5 | 100.0 | -1.3 |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 17.7 | 72.5 | 77.5 | -13.7 |
| Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr cp | hou al | 2.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -1.7 |
| Marte, Starling 3122 | lf | pit nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | -1.0 |
| Gallo, Joey 3485 | 3b | tex al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.5 |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.0 | 14.1 | 35.1 | 45.8 | -12.1 |
| Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 | rf | tb al | 1.0 | 6.7 | 12.2 | 12.2 | -4.7 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi mr | nyy al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 | -3.0 |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | lad nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | -3.0 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp cp | ari nl | 1.0 | 4.7 | 33.5 | 33.5 | -2.7 |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | sf nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 29.5 | 34.0 | -2.5 |
| Marte, Jefry 3529 | 1b ph | ana al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Feldman, Scott 2632 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 17.7 | 25.7 | 1.0 |
| Barnes, Matt 3466 | pi mr | bos al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
Brewers pitcher Chase Anderson is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Anderson pitched five scoreless innings, striking out five, in the 6-4 win over the Astros. Anderson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and is in fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 2 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 3 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 |
| 4 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 2.0 |
| 5 | Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.0 |
| 6 | Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 7 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 1.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 1.7 |
| 9 | Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 1.7 |
| 10 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 1.7 |
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits, in the 7-1 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Starling Marte of the Pirates hit an eighth-inning, go-ahead grand slam in the 6-5 win over the Reds. Marte also went 3-for-4.
American League Batter of the Day—Brock Holt of the Red Sox hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-4, driving in five total runs, in the 8-7 win over the Blue Jays.
Notable—Athletics closing pitcher Ryan Madson earned his first Player of the Game honors in nearly five years. Madson (1IP 0H 0R 2K Sv in the 3-2 win over the Mariners) last earned a Box-Toppers point when he earned Player of the Game honors on May 30, 2011, with the Phillies. Madson now has 21.7 career Box-Toppers points.
Debut—Trevor Brown of the Giants made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Brown (HR 1-3 2BI in the 3-2 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut Sept. 19, 2015, and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,610th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Anderson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Salazar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Marte and Holt each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/8 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | Brewers | Chase Anderson (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| AL | 5.1 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | |
| 5.0 | Tigers | Jordan Zimmermann (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4.2 | Padres | Robbie Erlin (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Pirates | Starling Marte, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Red Sox | Brock Holt, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Orioles | Chris Davis, 1B | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Trevor Rosenthal (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Ryan Madson (S,2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Royals | Wade Davis (S,2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Dbacks | Jean Segura, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Giants | Trevor Brown, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Rangers | Delino DeShields, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Giants pitcher Chris Heston is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Sunday.
Heston pitched four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four, in the 8-1 win over the Padres. Heston had 11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2015, 15th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez pitched four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk and striking out four, in the 6-1 win over the Rays. Sanchez had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015.
American League Batter of the Day—Trevor Plouffe of the Twins hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-2, driving in four runs, in the 14-6 win over the Orioles. Plouffe had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015.
National League Batter of the Day—Starling Marte of the Pirates hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, in the 9-5 win over the Tigers. Marte had 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015, 16th among NL outfielders.
Notable—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was Player of the Game in the 6-4 win over the Rockies. Kershaw pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out three. Kershaw finished second in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 25.7 (Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta finished first with 29.1). Kershaw led NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points from 2011-2014 and led all players in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Heston would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sanchez would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Plouffe and Marte would earn 1.5 points for being top batter in their league for the day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Sixteen spring training games were scheduled for Thursday—14 are listed below. Two games are not included because they ended in ties (Cardinals vs. Nationals and Cubs vs. Athletics).
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 3/13 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.0 | Giants | Chris Heston (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| AL | 6.0 | Blue Jays | Aaron Sanchez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | Twins | Trevor Plouffe 3B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | Mets | Matt Harvey (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | Brewers | Zach Davies (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 4.0 | Rays | Hank Conger C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Phillies | Adam Morgan (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Astros | José Altuve DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Pirates | Starling Marte LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Indians | Trevor Bauer (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Angels | Johnny Giavotella 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Reds | Zack Cozart SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Michael Freeman LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.